Day
1: Share purpose - Working out loud is about sharing your work as it
progresses so that others can learn and can help.

The first
question raised by Working Out Loud in John Stepper’s view is “what am I
trying to accomplish? So, I started Day 1 by sharing my purpose. During the WOL week, I wanted to educate myself and others about WOL and its value.

I have worked out loud at many occasions both in my personal and professional life. During this week, I wanted to use Pinterest as a way to create opportunities for social collaboration and share my contributions related to the concept of Working Out Loud.

Using Pinterest was an interesting (and unexpected) choice for many. When I had initially thought of using Pinterest, one of the key mindsets that I wanted to get rid of was that Pinterest is a crafting tool. I knew the potential of Pinterest and had seen some excellent resumes and work portfolios on Pinterest. I had also enjoyed Jane Bozarth’s board on ‘Show your Work’. But I hadn't truly 'used' Pinterest to do anything constructive. And I wanted to change that.

I also found pinning a passive activity. So, I wanted to take it to the next step and invite others to collaborate and pin on my WOL board. I wanted to see what others have found valuable when it comes to working out loud and sharing their work. I wanted to see real-life examples and application of WOL and share all this knowledge with folks who may not have started their WOL journey as yet. So, I decided to use Pinterest as a way to facilitate this conversation.

At the
end of Day 1, I had built a Working Out Loud Pinterest board and captured some of the
underlying concepts related to Working Out Loud to get myself started on this
journey.

Day
2: Make A Connection - Working out loud exposes us to the
networks of other people in our work. Understanding and leveraging those
networks begins by making a connection.

For Day 2, I decided to send tweets and direct
messages to people in my PLN inviting them to collaborate and add a pin on my WOL board.

And twitterverse responded! @Rob Jefferson was the first to chime in and gave me the encouragement that I needed to keep going (Thanks Rob!).

By the end of Day 2, I had added 12 collaborators on my group WOL board. Many collaborators were new to Pinterest. Others mentioned that they were being invited to a
group Pinterest board for the first time! During this process, I discovered many different boards created by other collaborators. I also learned a lot about
collaborative boards and how to help troubleshoot when collaborators tried to add
pins :)

Day
3: Make a Contribution - Generosity
is a core element of Working Out Loud. With
our purpose and communities in mind the best way to begin a
relationship is by making a contribution to others.

For
Day 3, I shared my own example of WOL in my current project - a transparent
project monitoring technique using an XLS-based visual project tracker. I shared it on
twitter and then pinned it to the WOL board.

Day
4: Share Progress - Real progress
is not measured by our efforts but by the shared progress for others. Work out
loud to better understand progress.

For
Day 4, I extended a warm thanks to all the collaborators and shared with them
how the WOL board was coming along.

But I wanted to do more. I wanted
to have a conversation with the collaborators on how we ALL were doing and
if the board was of value to them and to others viewing the board. I was
also asking them if Pinterest was a good choice.

Day
5: Share A Need - You
need help. Your stakeholders need help. Working out loud is way to come
together to share needs and solve them together in community.

On Day
5, I invited and reminded folks in my PLN to add to the WOL board to
make it more valuable for everyone. I also heard from many folks about their
own examples of working out loud and some of the articles, videos and posts that they
have found useful along the journey. I made sure to pin all those resources on the WOL board.

Day
6: Celebrate Help - The
best celebrations are purposeful. They are shared in a community. Reflect on
your work. Whose contribution to your work deserves a shared celebration? Take
5 minutes to thank them properly, deeply and out loud. That’s a celebration
that doesn’t fade, but instead grows.

Finally, here I am! I am now
using this blog post to reflect on what I learned by working out loud during
the #WOLweek and what I have learned about what is and what isn’t working out loud.

What isn’t
Working Out Loud

WOL
is not about the tools and technologies used for sharing and collaboration. You
don’t need to be on social media to WOL.

WOL
is not about pushing content and information to people who are not interested
in receiving it or to those who don’t share a common purpose.

WOL
is not about self promotion.

WOL
is not about using one approach that’s always right.

WOL
is not about fault finding in other’s work.

What
is Working Out Loud

WOL
is about starting with a purpose. If there isn’t a purpose behind sharing and
collaboration, the act of narrating and sharing your work may not be very valuable.

WOL
is about being generous and making your work visible and accessible. The idea
is to enable and encourage others to have a conversation around your work to
provide feedback and to share new ideas about what’s possible.

WOL
is sometimes more about the process of sharing rather than the final
outcome in terms of the actual work product.

WOL
offers a way of establishing connections with others more easily using the common,
shared purpose. These connections can lead to valuable relationships.

WOL
is about an open mindset. It is an integral part of the working culture and it
is about one’s willingness and attitude to share and to go beyond the fears of what others
will say about their work product.

With
this post, I would like to invite all collaborators of the WOL board to share their comments and feedback on working out loud with me during #WOLWeek.

- What did you think about using Pinterest as a way to work out loud about working out loud.

- How was your experience pinning articles and other resources on a collaborative board?

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About Me

A Learning and Performance Consultant with 17 years of experience in the learning industry. Passionate about people and learning and seek opportunities to establish innovative and successful learning environments.